


Ryme City Uproar

by thatsoffpudding



Category: Commentary crew, POKEMON Detective Pikachu (2019), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Video Blogging RPF, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Friendship, Gen, I'm Sorry, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Mistreatment of Pokemon, Mystery, Pokemon, Pokemon AU, Pokemon Battle, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon Trainers, Ryme City, Team10 as bad guys, The Mavericks as bad guys, Villain!Jake Paul, Villain!Logan Paul, Villains, YouTube, again I'm sorry, commentary crew - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-09-01 20:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsoffpudding/pseuds/thatsoffpudding
Summary: Will just wants to settle into his life in Ryme City with no more training and certainly no more pokemon battles. No, really he does. Too bad for him, Ryme City has other plans. Although maybe, it's just the kind of trouble Will has always been looking for.





	1. Chapter 1

Will checked his watch for the tenth time and, unsurprisingly, it was still three in the morning. With a worn out sigh, he shifted the hefty weight of the backpack on his shoulders into a more comfortable position. Under him, his Dodrio’s three heads chirped restlessly and the pokemon’s long legs scraped against the pavement in agitation. Will knew Dodrio was getting tired from helping with deliveries all night so he dismounted and with one final scratch to her chest, Will put Dodrio away in her pokeball. He only had one delivery left to make; he’d just have to do it by foot.

Ryme City was never really quiet. Zubat would flutter around at all hours of the night and dark pokemon tended to come out to rifle through dumpsters too--nevermind the people who would wander the neon lit streets in the dark looking for trouble. At three in the morning, though, it was about as quiet as it was ever going to get. Will let his Manectric out to walk at his side even though he only had a couple more blocks to go. She held her head high on alert while keeping pace with him, like his own little bodyguard. Will stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and hummed to himself to fill the quiet.

Most people living in Ryme City only had one pokemon partner but Will used to be a trainer so he still had a full roster of six. Six pokemon to match his six badges. When he was eleven, Will had set out on a journey to beat the Indigo League just like every other kid in the Kanto region. Only he had gotten distracted by the excitement of travelling the world and never really got back into the whole battling gym leaders thing. 

Once he got older, settling in Ryme City while it was still a fresh and new concept seemed like the perfect choice. Now, working a dead end job with minimum pay and living in a one room flat with a hundred nameless neighbors was just...lonely. At least he had his pokemon to keep him company, anyway. Will could hardly ask for more than that.

There was a clatter in the dark alley in front of him and Manectric halted immediately. All the blue and gold hairs on her back bristled, crackling with sparks, and Will knew that meant nothing good. Will stopped, eyes scanning the darkness, as he held out a hand in front of Manectric, silently ordering her to stand down. The flashing neon signs in vibrant purples, pinks, and greens reflected off the shimmering wet pavement in a way that made it impossible to see clearly.

“Hello?” Will asked, hoping there would be no answer, “Someone there?”

“Yeah, your worst nightmare.”

Will scoffed; he couldn’t help it, “Right, okay. Listen, I’d leave now before you regret it, mate.”

“We aren’t your _ mates_, we’re Team10, bitch,” the voice finally moved out of the shadows and a cloying sense of dread shot down Will’s spine, “Now hand over that package you’re carrying and we won’t have to hurt you.”

There wasn’t just a couple of thugs but a whole gang, all dressed to the nines in matching red and white clothes and all wearing masks, obscuring the lower half of their faces. They screamed trouble and next to Will, Manectric growled menacingly. Their leader, a guy with spiky blonde hair and slits in his eyebrow like a proper douche raised a pokeball in Will’s direction. The machine on his arm caught Will’s eye; he had never seen anything like it before. Silver metal started at the other man’s shoulder and continued down to the tips of each finger, wires poked out here and there--really completing the look.

“Nice Pokemon,” the man’s ominous tone had Will stepping closer to Manectric purely out of reflex.

Suddenly, the man’s metal arm flickered to life with a burst of whirs and dings. Then he threw the pokeball at Will’s Pokemon and a blindingly bright hand of red light followed. Will shouted for Manectric to get out of the way but it was too late. The ball hit her in the back, bounced once, then to Will’s utter horror, opened up and swallowed his pokemon right before his eyes. The man laughed and Will’s stomach dropped in gutted shock.

The pokeball on the ground, not the one where Manectric belonged but the one she was inside, moved suddenly as the man gestured with his mechanical fingers. Will dove for it. No way in hell was he letting Manectric be taken like this. Clutching the pokeball in his fingers, Will wrapped his whole body around it and held it tightly to his chest even as it struggled to return to the machine on the thug’s arm. He fell to his knees and the gang surrounded him.

“Yo, you got spirit, man,” their leader stepped forward, “I like that,” he crouched down in front of Will and Will was forced to be level with his stupid face, “but don’t stand against Team10 or we will fuck your life up.”

Will had literally no idea what the other man was on about so he scowled in his face and mocked, “Oh ho, I got two slits in me hair, I’m so cool,” then he snarled, “Piss off back to whatever cave you crawled out of, you fucking Neanderthal.”

The blonde man stood in a huff, “Woo, I am going to kick your ass for that, dude. No one talks shit about me and gets away with it.”

Will snorted even as the other man reached for the luxury balls at his belt. Gulping, Will swallowed down the fear rising in his throat and tightened his grip on the pokeball between his palms. It was still struggling to return the other man and Will couldn’t risk letting go to reach for his own pokeballs. Even if he could, well, battling in the streets was against the law in Ryme City. Will had no choice but to watch as the thug drew a ball and tossed it at the pavement in front of him.

“Come on, Magmortar, let’s show this little bitch how we do things,” he laughed to himself while Will’s breath got stuck in his throat. Magmortar was no joke. Will was sure he was about to be incinerated.

When the white light and massive form of the other trainer’s Magmortar erupted in front of him, Will made the mistake of being distracted and the pokeball in Will’s grip broke free. The stupid douchebag leader caught it with a triumphant laugh that made Will see red. In his anger, Will rose to his feet, face-to-face with a Magmortar, and held his ground. He reached for his series of balls that were hooked onto the back of his belt and hidden under his jacket. Forget the city’s rules; he would fight for his pokemon if he had to.

“Give her back,” Will demanded, staring at the trainer and not the tendrils of smoke rising from his pokemon, “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but that’s my pokemon. I’m her trainer and I’m not giving her up to a supreme twat like you.”

“Is that right?” he tossed the ball with Will’s Manectric inside up and down in the air casually, “And what are you going to do about it, huh?”

Will knew exactly what he was going to do. He drew the furthest ball on his belt, a standard red and white pokeball that was worn with age. When he lifted it toward the other man, he chuckled but Will could see the newly formed tension in the corners of his eyes. Even with the mask covering the thug’s face, Will knew he was frowning.

“Ohh, you’re a trainer, I’m so scared,” the thug mocked and his posse laughed along with him, “I’m literally way strong dude. You don’t stand a chance.”

“We’ll see about that,” Will released the ball in his grip and it erupted in a burst of light.

Everyone took a step back from Will, on the defensive. Their fear turned to shock turned to confusion when Will’s Squirtle materialized before them. Squirtle stood at about a fifth of the Magmortar’s height. There was a moment of comedic pause while everyone took in Will’s choice and then the group of thugs all burst out laughing. Squirtle huffed in offense and Will grinned. They had no idea the storm that was coming.

“Go, Squirtle!” Will commanded, knowing Squirtle would be fast enough to attack before his bigger opponent, “Use hydro pump!” 

The amusement vanished from the group when Squirtle sucked a massive breath into his tiny body and unleashed a furious blast of water at his enemy. Magmortar tried to block but the move was super effective. The bulky form of the fire pokemon was too slow to get out of the way and when the blast of water hit, he was thrown off his feet and knocked across the alley. After bouncing off the wall, Magmortar fainted into a heap on the ground. The stunned silence of the thugs lasted only for a moment before their leader was scrambling to return his pokemon to its luxury ball, sputtering mad and burning red in what Will liked to imagine was profound embarrassment.

“Nice one,” Will said to his Squirtle, who puffed his chest in pride. Then Will glared up at the wannabe gangster, “Now give me back my pokemon.”

“Go! Kick his ass!” the thug demanded and his lackeys scrambled to obey.

Five trainers drew and before Will could waffle on about how completely and ridiculously unfair that was, he was facing down two Golbats, a Purugly, and a couple Scrafty. He figured if they were going to do five against one, he could bend the rules himself. Will knew that even the best trainers in the world couldn’t command their whole party at once, and Will was one down, but he had faith that his pokemon were loyal. He drew two more balls from his belt, an ultra ball and a great ball, and released his Machamp and Bastiodon into the battle.

The leader snarled in frustration, “Yo, I’m gonna crush you.”

When he added his Lycanroc, the sinister looking midnight form one to boot, into the mix, Will knew he was outmatched two-to-one. Even with six foes facing them down, Will’s pokemon stood their ground and waited trustingly for Will’s command to begin. The familiar adrenaline of battling burst through Will’s veins and he took a second to strategize while ignoring the thugs and their gloating. Even with the power his pokemon possessed, they were still massively at a disadvantage. 

Squirtle could probably take on the Lycanroc, Bastiodon had a clear advantage over the flying types and Machamp could attack multiple enemies at once, but the thugs still had strength in numbers. Will had no way of knowing just how many pokemon each trainer had on them. Even so, he readied himself for a fight when the leader gave the order to begin. 

The Lyncaroc charged forward first, its fangs gleaming as he targeted Squirtle with the move crunch. Will was about to order Squirtle to retreat into his shell and use protect when from the darkness itself, a gleam of black clawed at the Lycanroc, forcing him back.

“What the fuck?” he and the little gang’s leader exclaimed at the same time.

All eyes moved to Will’s savior and landed on a Mimikyu, sitting unassumingly where it had definitely not been before. The leader snarled at the arrival of the new pokemon and took a threatening step forward. At that exact moment, a chill met the air and with it came a sinister laugh. Will hadn’t spent a lot of time around ghost type pokemon but he recognized the shiver darting down his spine and gulped. More often than not, ghost pokemon only meant more trouble.

As the laughter grew louder and more consuming, Will could see the resolve of his would-be robbers weakening. Everyone was looking around the alley, trying to pinpoint the source, when a swirl of purple opened behind the group. Two red eyes gleamed within before a bodiless grin stretched across the dark. Will covered his ears as a booming, cackling laugh erupted from the formless mouth. All of the thugs shrieked in surprise and horror as the Gengar reached for them. 

“This don’t look like a fair fight to me,” a posh voice beside Will tore everyone’s attention away from Gengar to the arrival of a new trainer. He was adorned in a black hoodie but it was the dark ball cap, white bandana pulled up over his face, and sunglasses at night that really completed his mysterious look, “Six against one doesn’t match any rules I know about.”

“There are no rules on the street,” the gang’s leader replied seriously but Will couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter.

“Right, you’re proper gangsters you with your designer sunglasses and luxury balls,” Will mocked and the trainer next to him chuckled under his bandana, “We’re in an alley behind a berry juice shop, this isn’t exactly the most dangerous place in the world.”

“I’ll show you dangerous,” the thug snarled and turned to his lackeys, “Attack this douchebag now before I get really angry.”

Will and his new battle partner stood their ground. While the Golbats tried to attack from above, the Purugly, Scrafty, and Lycanroc moved forward to attack on the ground. Will quickly commanded his Bastiodon to use rock throw and at the same time the stranger’s Mimikyu used play rough, forcing the two Scrafty into a brawl. Will’s Machamp used dual chop while Purugly used quick attack to dodge and the two were caught up with one another. When the leader’s Lycanroc went after Will’s Squirtle, the stranger’s Gengar used sucker punch and knocked him back. Even outnumbered, Will and his battle partner were clearly too strong for the thugs to take down.

“Fine!” the thug’s leader shouted over the heat of the battle, “Forget winning, get that package! I don’t care what it takes, Team10 will get what we came for!”

Suddenly, one of the Golbat turned away from battle to direct its poison fang at _ Will_. Squirtle jumped to his defense, using protect to block the attack. Will jumped out of the way when Lycanroc used rock throw, aiming at Gengar, Machamp, and Will in one go. Machamp finally knocked out the Purugly with a low kick and Will ordered him to turn his attention on the Lycanroc. Being fighting type, Machamp had the advantage and when Lycanroc tried to use rock throw again, Machamp’s swift counter almost knocked the Lycanroc out too.

“I’m not afraid to play dirty,” the leader pulled a pokeball from his belt and turned all his attention to Will, “This is your last chance, asshole. Hand the backpack over or things get ugly.”

Will and Squirtle dodged another of Golbat’s poison fangs and Will ordered Squirtle to use hydro pump, blasting the bat pokemon away. “What are you going to do then?” Will jeered, “Take off your mask?” 

“Oh please, anything but that,” Will’s disguised friend chuckled while commanding his Mimikyu to use shadow ball, “I’d wager my Mimikyu looks less scary under his disguise than you, mate.” His Mimikyu chortled in agreement.

The man finally snapped, throwing the pokeball at Will with a shout of rage. It landed behind Bastiodon and right at Will’s feet, erupting in a flash of light. It was Manectric--Will’s Manectric. The relief that fluttered in Will’s chest immediately sank into icy cold dread when the fur on the back of her neck rose and Manectric snarled at him ferociously. Electricity crackled across her fangs but Will’s focus was locked onto her gaze; Manectric’s eyes were _ wrong_. Her alert ruby stare was missing and instead she watched Will with blank, black eyes.

Will barely heard the leader of the gang’s order for Manectric to use thunder fang before Mimikyu was attacking Manectric with slash. In a rush, Will dove in front of his pokemon and Mimikyu’s sharp claw tore through his jacket, luckily just barely catching Will’s skin. 

“What are you doing?” the masked stranger shouted, ordering his Mimikyu back, “Are you fucking crazy?”

“She’s my pokemon!” Will defended, raising a hand to hold the other pokemon back from attacking Manectric, “Manectric, it’s me. It’s Will.”

His words had no effect, though. When the gang’s leader commanded her to use thunder, and to attack Will, she obeyed without pause. The sky above cracked as a bolt of lightning was drawn to Manectric and when she howled, it descended with a violent boom. It all happened so fast, in a flash of white light, that Will had no time to move out of the way. Only, he didn’t have to. Squirtle tackled Will away and took the full force of the attack into his small body instead. Will knew instantly Squirtle was in dire straights.

“Squirtle!” he shouted, scooping up his pokemon into his arms. 

The turtle pokemon was barely even breathing, there was a crack in his shell, and Will knew without a doubt if Squirtle didn’t get help as soon as possible, he wasn’t going to make it. Tears flooded Will’s eyes against his will when Manectric growled at him. The caveman leader of the little gang laughed at him but before Will could react, his masked ally was stepping forward, between Will and the full force of the thugs and their pokemon.

“That’s it,” he snarled and his voice held an edge that made the criminals hesitate visibly, “You’re going to pay for that.”

The masked man yanked up the sleeve of his sweater, revealing a black ring around his wrist. The center was glowing an ominous purple and when he lifted his arm, Gengar teleported in front of him. Violet light erupted from the masked man’s arm and encompassed his Gengar. When the brightness flashed out, his Gengar had evolved into Mega Gengar and everyone took a smart step back.

“Go, Gengar,” he demanded, voice steady and unrelenting, “Use Dark Pulse.” Mega Gengar vanished and as he did, Will’s ally turned to him, “Get your pokemon back in their balls and be prepared to run away.”

Will watched as his companion drew a black and green dusk ball and retracted Mimikyu. Scrambling, Will returned Machamp and Bastiodon as well. When he tried to retrieve Manectric, her pokeball wouldn’t work. The leader of the thugs seemed to relax with the Mega Gengar out of sight and he pointed at Will, commanding his own pokemon.

“Use thunder fang,” he demanded, “and roast this bitch.”

In that moment, Mega Gengar reappeared, his body scattered across dimensions, allowing him to appear throughout the alleyway. His right arm came out of a wall, his left the dumpster behind the gang, and his face floated up from the ground. Between his scattered limbs, the thugs and their pokemon were trapped. Before they could react, a burst of all-consuming black encompassed them. Will didn’t get a chance to watch what happened next because his masked friend grabbed him by the elbow and helped him to his feet. While the thugs were distracted, the two of them ran.

“But-” Will started, holding Squirtle close to his chest so he wouldn’t get rattled too badly, “What about my Manectric?”

His companion was silent for a moment, glancing back at Will, and when he spoke again his words sounded painful to say and gut-wrenchingly sincere, “I’m sorry.”

From behind, Will heard the leader of the gang shout. “I won’t forget this, you hear me?!” he hollered after them and WIll couldn’t help but notice how shaky his voice sounded, “It’s all fun and games until it’s not fun and games! And game time is _ over_!”

“What a fucking _ dickhead_!” Will shouted back as he followed his masked savior blindly, “Oh, and by the way: what the hell was that? What seriously just fucking happened?”

The masked hero snorted, “Team10 and their snag machine. It was made to keep Pokemon _ away _from pricks like that.”

“Snag…?” Will asked, glancing back over his shoulder, “Does that mean-?”

“They stole your Pokemon?” the guy finished, voice disquiet and full of empathy, “Yeah. I’m sorry, mate.”

Will’s steps stuttered to a halt. Ahead of him, the masked man stopped as well. “You can’t be serious,” Will blinked rapidly to clear emotion from his eyes, “Surely there’s some way-I mean surely-”

“Look pal, your Squirtle’s in real bad shape,” he said and when Will glanced down, he could see how true that was, “I know where we can get some help. So let’s...just focus on him for right now, alright?”

“Right, okay,” Will gulped, nodded, squared his shoulders, “Lead the way then, fella.”


	2. Chapter 2

Will followed his masked ally as they snuck around the neon lit backstreets of the inner city. Gengar had reappeared, materializing in front of Will’s new friend with a grin that looked way more proud than it did menacing and his masked compatriot patted Gengar on the head like he was a Poochyena. Even though his trainer’s hand passed through Gengar’s spirit body, Gengar beamed happily under the praise and Will felt unavoidably warmed by the sight. The giant purple softy gave Will a big smile before the masked man returned him to his dusk ball too.

They rounded a corner to a street that was much wider and more commercial than the ones they’d been using before. There were rows of food stalls and market shops that had been closed down for the night and at the end of them was a 24 hour Poke Mart with a nice big, brightly lit “open” sign flashing above the door.

“There,” the masked man said and jogged ahead, “Come on.”

Will followed, picking up the pace, even though his legs were considerably longer than the other man’s, giving him a definite advantage in the speed department. Without a pause of concern over wearing a masked get-up and barreling into a 24 hour mart on a shady street, Will’s mysterious friend entered the shop in a rush.

“Alex!” he called out, “I need potions!”

A Sylveon poked its head out from behind one of the shelves with a chipper chirp in the masked man’s direction. The pink pokemon met the disguised man as he approached the counter, wrapping its ribbons around his ankles in a friendly manner. Despite himself, the masked man dipped down to pet the Sylveon’s head.

“Hey, Sylveon,” he acknowledged, “Where’s Alex, huh?”

“Oh come on, George,” a young looking guy stepped out of the backroom, wearing a telltale blue Poke Mart apron over a pink hoodie, “How many times do I have to tell you?” he whined, “This is a Poke Mart, not a Poke Center.”

“Alex, shut up, this is serious,” the masked guy, George apparently, motioned at Will, “His pokemon is really hurt.”

“All the more reason for him to go to a Pokemon Center, George!” Alex groaned, tossing his hands up in the air. Then he motioned to the counter in front of him, “Let me see this emergency then.”

Will hesitated. In his arms, Squirtle was breathing weakly and whimpering in pain and Will felt like letting go of him was a betrayal somehow. He moved up to the counter but couldn’t bring himself to set Squirtle down. Alex surprised him by catching on and, instead of pushing it, simply went up on his tippy-toes to check out Squirtle’s state himself. Any sass or humor vanished from his young face and his eyes flashed with a maturity that spoke of experience far beyond his years.

“Sylveon, come up here,” he ordered as he turned away, rifling around under the counter. His Sylveon obeyed with a whimsical noise as Alex stood again, a hyper potion in hand, “This should do the trick.”

“I-” Will started but had to swallow down the vile taste of shame sticking to his throat, “I can’t afford that.”

“Don’t worry,” masked George said, sincere, “Alex makes loads of money.”

“No, I don’t,” Alex shot back but his voice was much softer when he spoke to Will, “He’s right about not worrying though. This will take the edge off and then Sylveon will take care of the rest. Sound okay?”

When he lifted the potion, Will nodded and slowly lowered Squirtle so that he was still in Will’s arms but close enough for Alex to use the medicine. Alex was meticulous and careful as he sprayed the hyper potion on all of Squirtle’s wounds. The horrible, sickening tension coiled tightly around Will’s heart began to lessen with every even breath Squirtle took again. Once the potion was empty, Alex tangled his fingers in Sylveon’s soft ribbon tendrils and smiled at her.

“Ok, Sylveon, it’s up to you now,” he said softly, “Can you use heal bell, please?”

She responded with an eager trill and then turned her attention toward Will. The fairy pokemon extended her ribbons, one curled around Squirtle’s little hand and another wound around Will’s wrist. Her gentle blue eyes stared up at Will and he felt instantly calmed by her gaze. Then she began glowing a soft white and Will gasped as a zip of energy darted up his arm. 

It felt nothing like the electric jolts he’d had to endure while training a clumsy Electrike into a powerful Manectric but soft and warm. A quiet chime floated through Will’s mind, a soothing melody echoing in his thoughts. Calmed, he watched as the burns and scrapes on the Squirtle in his arms disappeared and the crack in his shell mended itself. Then Will sucked in a startled breath as the scratch across his own chest was healed and all the aches and pains in his own body vanished.

“Thank you,” he said to the Sylveon as she pulled away and she yipped in response, clearly happy to help. Then Will looked up to her trainer; he was embarrassed by the wetness he could feel pooling in his eyes and the younger man seemed genuinely surprised when Will nearly choked over, “Thank you, Alex,” as he pulled Squirtle up into a hug. Against his neck, his Squirtle let out a disgruntled too-cool-for-snuggles rumble but wound his little arms around Will in a small embrace anyway.

"Is someone going to tell me what the heck happened?" Alex asked, pointedly looking at George, "What's going on? This all seems way more serious than your usual trouble, George."

"It was Team10 and their snag machine," George explained, "They stole this bloke's-"

"Will," Will interjected.

"_Will's _ Manectric after attacking him in an alley," George continued even after Alex's eyes widened in horror, "I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."

Alex's surprised expression turned to Will, "They stole your pokemon? You have to report this to the police!"

"You know that's not an option," George countered, voice even but laced with venom too, “Battling is against the law; I wouldn't be running around in a mask fighting them in the streets at night if it wasn’t, now would I? ‘Sides the cops are a bunch of Rattata bastards covering for Team10 and we all know it."

"We all know what now?" Will cut in and Squirtle spun in his arms to give the two other men a glare that was by no means threatening on his little, round face, "Because all _ I _ know is I'm just a random delivery guy who has literally nothing to do with all of-" and he waved an arm in George's direction, gesturing at his masked attire, "_this_. But I just lost one of my best friends to some massive fucking twat unironically sporting _ slits _ in his _ eyebrow _ and you're telling us we can't even go to the police?"

"Didn't stutter, did I?" George shot back, "Not all of the RCPD are rotten, but I know for a fact they have ties and they run real deep in the system. If Team10 is after whatever's in your backpack then going to the police is the same as handing it to them on a silver platter."

"So what then?" Will shrugged helplessly, "We can't do _ nothing_! I have to get her back from that fucking moron! And no offense mate but I don't even know you! You're wearing a fucking mask for God's sake! I know we’re rambling a bit but you can't really blame us for being suspicious. This is mad. This entire thing is _ completely mad_."

After Will’s rant, the Poke Mart fell quiet. Alex still looked lost but guilty now too which wasn’t what Will had intended by any means. George sighed deeply behind his mask, scrubbing a hand over the black sports cap on his head. He looked shaken and upset even with his get up on and Will wanted to somehow express that it wasn’t his fault some arsehat with a magic machine arm attacked Will in the street. When Squirtle squirmed in Will’s arms restlessly, Will snapped out of his thoughts. 

Squirtle had never been a very touchy-feely pokemon so Will crouched down to let him out of his embrace knowingly. The water pokemon hopped to the tile floor, stretching out his arms, and sent Will a calculating look. Puffing up his little chest like he couldn’t believe Will’s idiocy, Squirtle reached up on his tippy-toes and tugged at the backpack strap hooked around Will’s shoulder. Will glanced down at Squirtle’s blue fingers questioningly and Squirtle yanked at his bag harder in response.

“The package,” George said, watching Will and Squirtle like they’d given him an epiphany, “What is it? What were you supposed to deliver and where was it going?”

“I don’t know what’s inside. I never do and I’m not supposed to ask. As for where it was going…” Will thought about it for a second, trying to recall, “I was supposed to take it to some science lab. We were like a block away when Captain Twatwaffle and his merry band of mongs jumped us.”

“A science lab?” George looked at Alex, “What lab is there around here?”

“What? Do I look like I spend my Sundays visiting all the pokemon labs in Ryme City?” Alex deadpanned before continuing, “Only place I can think of is where that one rich bloke gives out pokeballs. Remember? He makes them or something.”

“Oh, right,” George snapped his fingers and Will watched without a clue what they were talking about, “That genius guy who helped design balls for catching pokemon in the Ultra Dimension, you know, what’s-his-name.”

“Mr. Beast?” Will guessed, trying to recall anything he’d ever heard about ultra beast pokemon from other dimensions.

“Yeah! He made them beast balls,” George confirmed, “Bloke lives ‘round here I think.”

“If Team Twat doesn’t want this Mr. Beast fella to get his delivery then I say we make absolutely fucking sure he does,” Will jumped to his feet, “And maybe a certified genius will know how to get Manectric back.”

“Right, okay,” George agreed immediately, “I’ll go too, make sure you don’t run into any more trouble-”

“George,” Alex interrupted, voice serious enough to have both Will and George turn to him, “You two be _ careful_. Please.”

George nodded, posture relaxing and voice reassuring, “Yeah, alright.”

“Come on wee man, let’s go,” Will lifted Squirtle’s pokeball and when Squirtle visibly hesitated, Will softened, “I can’t lose you too, you little shit. Come on.” Squirtle rolled his eyes but acquiesced and Will returned him to the safety of his ball.

He followed George to the exit but they both paused when Alex called out after them, “And next time go to the Pokemon Center!”

“Love you too, Alex!” George called back sarcastically, waving behind them as him and Will stepped back out to the dark, dimly streets of Ryme City.

Will checked his watch. It was nearing five in the morning so he knew that the city and its residents would be stirring back to life soon enough. Glancing to the side, he watched his mysterious masked friend adjust the bandana behind his head back into a more secure position and decided he missed this. Being a trainer had meant excitement was never in short supply and even though Will’s soul ached with loss for Manectric, his heart blazed with determination to get her back. 

“You alright?” George’s voice cut through Will’s thoughts. Will realized then how fast he was walking and how George wasn’t struggling to keep pace even if he was practically jogging. George chuckled, an unhappy sound, when Will didn’t answer, “Right so, that was a dumb question.”

“No, it’s-” Will started, slowed himself down so George didn’t have to break any Pokelympic records running at his side, “It’s good, man. I just...can’t decide if I’m fucking heart broken or so pissed off smoke’ll be coming out me ears like a damn Torkoal any minute now.”

George snorted and his laugh sounded much more sincere that time, “I’d pay to see that,” George paused when Will scoffed before adding, “I like him, by the way,” at Will’s quirked brow, George clarified, “Your Squirtle. He’s cute.”

Will barked out a laugh, surprised. He’d stop thinking of Squirtle as cute within minutes of meeting him. They were partners; Squirtle was his first pokemon and they were as close as ever. That didn’t mean Will wasn’t well aware that the tiny turtle pokemon was a stubborn bastard and downright adamant in his ways. He never knew when to give up and as annoying as it could be, his determination had earned them both more than one victory.

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Will grinned at George, “Little shit thinks he’s proper hench and, well, he isn’t wrong. Knocked my Machamp out with a skull bash once, he did.”

“What?!” George gasped, “That’s ridiculous!”

“Well your pokemon aren’t so bad themselves,” Will nudged George with his elbow, “When your Gengar appeared in that alley we almost pissed our pants, seriously.”

“Yeah, he has that effect,” George laughed to himself, “You wouldn’t know it looking at him, but the big, purple moron is real timid. It’s my Hydreigon who’s the actual beast.”

“You’ve got a Hydreigon?” Will asked, shocked, “How in the bloody hell d’you catch one of them?”

“With this insane new thing called a pokeball, Will,” George answered sarcastically, “Red and white? Throw ‘em at pokemon? No one knows how they work?”

“Steady on there fella, you’s made your point,” Will waved his hand at George, gesturing to his mask, “Gotta maintain all that mystery, eh?”

George shrugged, “It's all part of that vigilante life."

“Right, okay,” Will rolled his eyes, “You’re a real life Golbatman, you.”

Ahead a flash of red light caught Will’s attention and he halted in his tracks. Reaching out, Will snagged George by his hood and the other man lurched to a stop with a choked off shout of protest. While George shoved at him to leg go, clearly as pissed as he was confused, Will dragged him into the stoop of a boutique advertising the latest fashion trends from Lumiose City.

“Cops,” Will hissed and George immediately stopped trying to get away, “The hell are they doing here?”

George smacked Will’s hold off of him hard enough that Will stumbled back a step so he quickly shoved at George’s shoulder in retaliation. When George lifted his hand, motioning for Will to wait, Will relented with a quick nod. As George peered out around the corner, Will held his breath. Inside his chest, his heart was racing. Whatever he was carrying, Will knew he couldn’t let the RCPD get their grubby little hands on it.

“Shit,” George cursed under his breath and turned back into the alcove so fast, Will had to take a step back lest they be a little too close for his comfort, “That’s the fuzz, alright. They’re at Mr. Beast’s lab.”

“What does-” Will started but immediately scrambled to cover his eyes when George reached up to yank his disguise off, “What are you _ doing_?”

“Why are you covering your face like that? I’m not naked!” George shot back, stuffing his hat, bandana, and glasses into Will’s chest, “Hurry, put these in your bag,” he huffed when Will stared down at them curiously, a thousand questions racing through his mind but most of them variations of _ why_. George seemed to pick up on his confusion without Will asking because he shoved at Will’s chest with his belongings again and hissed, “The last thing I need to be doing is wearing a masked get-up at a possible _ crime scene_, Will. Now come on, hurry up.”

“Right, okay,” Will scooped up George’s accessories quickly and scrambled to stuff them into his backpack. When George turned away, Will’s hand shot out and caught his bicep, stopping him, “Wait! We should get…” his words trailed off when he finally looked up and saw George’s face, no longer shrouded in mystery, “Wow, you’re proper clapped.”

George scowled, yanking his arm free, “Oh piss off-”

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding, I swear,” Will chuckled and stopped George again, “You’re a very handsome boy, now will you listen to me?” Will pulled out Squirtle’s pokeball, “We should have a partner with us, so we’s don’t look so suspicious.”

George paused, seemingly to mull it over, before nodding and pulling a dusk ball out and releasing his Mimikyu again. He reached down and let the pokemon shimmy up onto his shoulder, a wispy purple arm looped around the back of George’s neck to support the Mimikyu’s body, and Will’s spine shivered in sympathy. He had just released Squirtle when there was a flash of movement in front of him. Will was startled badly enough that he leapt back, crashing into George, who shoved him away with an indignant grunt of disgust.

“It’s a _ Bidoof,_ Will, Christ’s sake,” George snapped while Will slapped a hand over his racing heart to catch his breath.

At the opening to the store’s doorway, an unassuming Bidoof stood, staring at them unblinkingly with no expression on his fluffy, toothy face. Squirtle walked up with no preamble and poked at its ear, saying something only pokemon could understand. When the Bidoof didn’t so much as react, Squirtle turned back to Will and shrugged.

“Whatchya got there, Doofy?” both Will and George startled when a police officer appeared behind the Bidoof, “Well, well. Good job Officer Doofus, you found two homosexuals out for a mornin’ shoop in a stoop.”

“We aren’t-!” Will tried to explain at the same time George snapped, “Don’t call him Doofus, that’s mean.”

“_George_,” Will chastised hurriedly, trying to explain to the cop, “We were just taking our pokemon partners out for a walk. We aren’t-not that there’s anything wrong with that-but we’re just not-!”

The cop arched a brow and turned toward George, “I wasn’t callin’ him dumb. That’s his name,” the officer pointed down to the little vest on the Bidoof where Officer Doofus was written along the back and then he pointed to his own badge, “I’m Officer Carter. Mind tellin’ me just what in the Wailord’s name the two of you are doing hidin’ in this lovely storefront next to an active crime scene if ya’ll _ aren’t _commitin’ acts of indecent exposure?”

George glanced at Will quickly, “We were curious, is all. Saw all the lights and shit and thought there was something cool happening.”

“Ah, I see. Is that how it is?” Officer Carter grinned easily but his eyes landed on Will and stayed there, “Nothin’ cool here. Professor Donaldson’s lab was broken into. Poor ol’ Jimbo is MIA,” his stare set Will on edge as the cop took in his delivery uniform and backpack while he spoke and then turned toward George, specifically George’s Mimikyu, “Looks like a _ big _misunderstanding, though. It’s not like the guy was kidnapped or anything.”

Then suddenly Officer Carter shrugged, immediately backing off from them, “Well, anyhow, ya’ll better get out of here. No harm, no foul,” he pointed over his shoulder, “But I’d take Grimsley Street, I were you. No other cops down that way to see you and make the same mistake I did, thinkin’ ya’ll are out here lookin’ for trouble.”

“Right,” Will said, reaching down and lifting up Squirtle. The little blue pokemon made an annoyed grunt of protest but let Will hike him up onto his shoulders, arms and legs on either side of Will’s face and neck. Will stifled a flinch when Squirtle grabbed at his hair way harder than necessary as payback for being manhandled. Will just wanted to be able to move fast and Squirtle seemed to understand, even if he had to be a little shit about it. “Guess we’ll just be going then, Officer.”

The Bidoof watched them blandly as Will and George moved around him and turned to go up the street behind the policeman’s back. As they hurried to get away, Officer Carter waved goodbye and called out, “Stay safe out there, Memeulous!”

George’s steps stuttered and he almost tripped but caught Will by his elbow to steady himself. When George didn’t let go, just hurried to move out by tugging Will along, Will couldn’t shake the feeling he’d missed something. Glancing back at the cop, Will saw that Officer Carter and his partner were still watching them leave, a strange smile on his face. Yeah, Will had definitely missed something.

“George, where’re we going?” Will finally asked after he was sure they were far enough away from the shitshow that was Mr. Beast’s lab. George was still pulling on his arm and Will had finally had enough. He stopped and George was jerked to a stop as well, “Are you’s gonna tell us what in the hell that-?”

“iDubbbz,” George cut Will off.

“You what now?”

“That’s-look it’s really complicated yeah so I’ll spare you the details,” George finally slowed, letting go of Will and letting his shoulders slump, a little less tense, “That was iDubbbz, it had to be. He’s, like, an anonymous cop who keeps _ other _cops on their toes by exposing their dirty laundry. iDubbbz is the reason I know we can’t trust the RCPD. I’ve had close calls before, battling Team10 and The Mavericks when they think they can attack innocent people and their partners on the street, but when the cops show up, I always manage to get away. My mate Pyrocinical thinks we’ve got help on the inside. It has to be iDubbbz.”

“Ooookay,” Will thought he got all that, not that it made much sense, “And you’re, what did he say? Moomulous? What’s with all these crazy names?”

“It’s _ Memeulous_, like on account of my Mimikyu?” George shrugged, “It’s not like I can run around using my real name, now can I?”

“This is mad,” Will blinked at George, finally reaching the limit of information he could handle, “This...you--it’s fucking insane. You get that, right? Regular people don’t just fight _ supervillains _ on the street using secret code names with fucking Bidoof Commissioner Gorebyss helping them take out the bad guys who probably _ kidnapped _Mr. Beast who we’s have to save now and--holy shit. You’re actually Golbatman. Normal people don’t do this shit, George.”

“We aren’t normal people, _ Will_,” George said, jaw clenched and eyes burning, “We’re pokemon trainers.”

All of the air was stolen from Will’s lungs in an instant. Still sitting on Will’s shoulders, Squirtle tightened his grip in Will’s hair as if he could feel Will’s sudden moment of shock and doubt. Will knew he wasn’t settling into the city life well, knew this wasn’t what he wanted, and deep in his heart, Will knew George’s words rang true. The look in George’s eyes was one Will had seen reflected in his own years ago that felt much, much longer than they were. Will missed it.

George took Will’s silence as a dismissive sign and he sighed. “You’re alright, Will. I know you didn’t ask to be a part of any of this and that you just want your pokemon back. I _ promise _we’ll get her back,” George looked so sure it made Will’s heart feel like it was pushed up in his throat, choking him with hope he was terrified to feel, “You know the Staryubucks down by the Fossil Museum?”

Will blinked for a second, taken aback by the sudden shift in conversation. “Yeah,” he certainly did; the museum sometimes ordered packages that Will had the utmost privilege of delivering to the most beautiful researcher he’d ever seen and her Mawile and the Staryubucks was just across the street. He swallowed another lump in his throat, “Yeah, I know it.”

“Okay, meet me there at ten tonight,” George clapped Will on his shoulder and then before waiting for Will to either confirm or deny those plans, darted off. Will watched him turn around a corner, but when Will followed, George had vanished into thin air.

“We’re really in it now, aren’t we fella?” Will asked Squirtle who dropped his chin down onto the top of Will’s head and huffed in agreement.


	3. Chapter 3

As much as Will wanted to go back to his flat and sleep like his ability was comatose, he couldn’t just yet. More than the adrenaline still jittering through his veins, Will had real world responsibilities. Even though he’d nearly forgotten, caught up in all of the action of the previous night, Will still technically had a job and that job had procedures. Procedures such as not taking packages without delivering them. Will’s boss was an old friend and he knew she was reasonable enough not to be too upset, given the circumstances, but he wasn’t about to risk his job and paycheck, not when he was strapped for pokeyen enough as it was.

The morning trains were up and running so Will caught the one with the station nearest the office and tried not to grimace at the cost. It wasn’t that they were expensive or anything, it was just that Will would normally ride Dodrio but she was still tired from last night’s deliveries so Will didn’t want to push her. Squirtle climbed up onto the train seat next to him and dared anyone to approach him with his fiercest little glare. The other train occupants were mostly busy business executives and exhausted night shifters who couldn’t be bothered to spare Will a second glance but Will appreciated it anyway. He gave Squirtle a quick pat on his head and Squirtle for once leaned into it, letting Will dote on him. Will smiled despite himself.

The station was bustling and getting off and back up to the street proved to be a challenge all on it’s own. When the Deliveroose office came into view, it’s blue and white sign with a stylized shiny metal Zangoose across it had never looked so welcoming. Will held the door open for Squirtle as he entered. Squirtle immediately headed toward his friend, Shinx, who was lying lazily in the morning sun. Will left them to play as he scanned the seemingly vacant building.

“Gee!” he called out, knowing she had to be somewhere if the office was open already, “Gee, you are not going to believe the night I had!”

Gee peeked her head out of the back office and glanced around until her gaze landed on him, “Will? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be home sleeping by now?”

“That’s the thing!” Will rushed around to her office and immediately made himself at home on the corner of her desk, “I had the _ craziest _night last night.”

Gee leveled him with a wholly undeserved skeptical stare, “Did you get lost again? This is the third-”

“No, no, no,” Will waved her off quickly, “I didn’t deliver a package-”

“You didn’t deliver a package?! Come on, Will, that is literally what we do here!” Gee threw her hands up in the air, “I cannot believe you! If you don’t make your deliveries then it reflects back on me and the entire company. You know, the one I’m trying to run where we _ deliver packages_.”

“I know, but-” Will tried, startled by Gee’s anger.

“Where was it supposed to go? Do you still have it?” Gee was already muttering to herself, searching her desk for the client numbers from last night, “I can get ahead of this.”

“Gee, listen to me!” Will finally snapped and Gee stopped to watch him with wide eyes, “I was _ attacked _ by a bunch of luxury ball oohh-my-hair-looks-so-fancy twats who _ stole _ Manectric and then some masked fella calls himself Moomooulous saved me and we went running through the streets and almost got caught by a buncha dirty cops but a Bidoof named _ Officer Doofus _fucking saved us and we barely got away with the package cause Team10 tried to steal it from us but they apparently kidnapped Mr. Beast and we can’t go to the cops because-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Gee stood, coming around her desk to stand in front of Will and catch him by his shoulders gently, “Slow down, Will. You were attacked? Are you okay?”

Her open concern for him caught Will off guard and his eyes started watering against his will. He was so tired and finally saying it out loud, Will realized just how messed up the whole night had been. He shook his head, just a fraction of movement, but Gee knew him too well. She pulled Will forward into an embrace and Will melted into her arms, refusing to let her hear the thick emotions in his voice he swallowed back his tears.

“He took her, Gee,” Will whispered into Gee’s shoulder, “I can’t just...I need to get her back.”

“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do,” she caught Will’s shoulders again and then pushed him back so they could look at each other, “I’ll send Josh out to get us all some Roserade tea and then you’re going to tell us the whole story. Maybe we can help. Okay?”

Will nodded, endlessly thankful for having a friend like Gee, “Okay. That’s my favorite.”

“I know,” Gee smiled before she called over her shoulder, “Josh!” 

Josh’s head poked into the doorway, his Komala clutching his backpack was in his arms snoozing away, “Yeah, boss?”

“Tea run,” she said and gestured for Will to move into one of the spare chairs in her office, “We’ve got quite the story to hear and we’re going to need the good stuff.”

Josh gave her a playful salute and his Komala followed along in its sleep, “Gotcha. Get the good stuff. I’m on it!”

Gee called after him with a glowing smile on her face, “And no stopping for McDonald’s!” 

Josh let out a dramatic, distressed sound but assured her he wouldn’t. God, Will wished they would just get a room already. The two were so obviously in love, the Minior floating around in space could probably see the heart eyes they made at each other. Will never thought of Gee as dense, and would certainly never say so out loud, but the fact that she was so oblivious to how obvious Josh was about his crush on her made Will consider changing his stance on the subject.

Once Josh had gone down the block and back, returning with three cups of tea for them and some Shalour sables for their pokemon, they all settled into Gee’s office to hear Will’s tale. Shinx and Komala were curled up in Josh’s lap, letting him feed them their treats, and Squirtle made himself at home in Gee’s arms, knowing she would spoil him like Will wouldn’t, little shit. As Will told his story, he tried not to leave anything important out and answer whatever questions the other two had. It was hard because Will himself barely even knew what happened the night before. Still, by the time he was done, Josh and Gee were both staring at him, eyes wide and jaws slack.

Gee spoke first, “That’s all so-”

“Cool!” Josh interrupted, grinning and nearly jumping up and down in his seat in excitement, “Well, you know, not the whole stolen pokemon and kidnapping stuff. But you battled bad guys in the streets like those champions that took down Team Rocket! You must be an absolutely amazing trainer, brother.”

“Anyway,” Gee sent Josh an unimpressed glare but he didn’t even bother to look sheepish under her scrutiny, “I was going to say _ dangerous _. From what you just told us, Manectric was stolen and Squirtle here almost _ died_. Are you sure you want to get involved in this, Will? I’m worried you aren’t thinking this through.”

Josh sobered up, straightening his shoulders and sending Gee a nod, “Oh wow, it does sound a lot less chill when you say it like that.”

“I’m already involved,” Will pulled a leg up onto the chair so he could wrap an arm around his bent knee, “Those Team10 cunts made sure of that when they stole Manectric. I can’t let them get away with her. I have to stop them.”

There was a thoughtful pause before Gee spoke again. “You’re right,” she announced, “Who knows how many other pokemon they’ve stolen. They could be hurting them. And if the RCPD isn’t going to do anything about Professor Donaldson, then someone has to; he could be in a lot of trouble. If there’s any way to stop them, we at least have to try.”

Josh cheered, startling Shinx awake, “Let’s crush them into stardust, boys!”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Will sighed, “Not that I don’t appreciate the support and all guys but we’re talking about destroying a fricking criminal empire.”

Gee shook her head, “No, _ you’re _ destroying a criminal empire. Josh and I aren’t trainers and our partners are better suited to afternoon naps than battling,” Gee didn’t even pause when Josh whined in protest, “What we _ are _ going to do is help you any way we can. Starting by ‘losing’ the paperwork for that package. We never delivered it because we never even got it to deliver in the first place. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“You’s don’t have to be _ cryptic, _Gee, jeez,” Will rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, “Yes, we get it.”

“Hey guy, don’t lump us in together,” Josh flashed Will a quick frown, “What on earth are you on about, boss?” Gee smiled at Josh and the sparkle in her eyes when she looked at him was so sweet and loving that Will gagged.

“We can’t open the package; it’s against the law,” Gee explained, “but we need to know what’s inside,” she shrugged, “If it was never here, then it’s just another package that got lost between passed hands and we aren’t responsible for it. That way if the RCPD is looking for it and they come here, we can fake having no idea what they’re on about,” then she looked at Will, more serious now, “And that also means you can open it and use whatever’s inside to stop Team10. It’s not going to do Professor Donaldson any good in the hands of the bad guys, way I see it. Us opening it is the lesser of two evils.”

Josh watched Gee with delight and awe in his ooey gooey gaze and Will rolled his eyes to the sky, pleading with Arceus for even a shred of patience over his two idiot friends. “Wow, you’re scary smart, you know?” Josh beamed, Gee blushed, and Will almost slammed his head back into the wall behind him, “What a plan.”

“Right, okay,” Will clapped his hands, disrupting whatever moment the other two were having, “Let’s find out just what those fuckheads were after, yeah?”

He swung his backpack off and propped it up on his lap. Gee and Josh both leaned closer, watching and waiting. Will wasted no time shoving George’s hat and bandana aside, which he had completely forgotten were in there, and pulling the small box wrapped in brown paper out. Tossing his backpack aside, he paused for just a moment to internally apologize to Mr. Beast for cracking open his mail. Then, Will finally got to it. He struggled for just a minute prying at the sticky packaging tape, and didn’t miss the raised brow Squirtle sent mockingly to which Will stuck his tongue out, before tearing open the package and finally discovering what lay inside.

Will blinked down at the contents of the box sitting in his lap. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but a solitary orange and blue pokeball had not been it. Reaching inside, Will lifted the pokeball out and tapped the button to expand it into its palm sized form in his grip. It was just like every other pokeball out there but also eerily unique. It was orange on the top and white on the bottom with a striking light blue band. There were two white spots sitting directly above the release button.

“Is that it?” Josh asked, surprised.

“What kind of ball is that?” Gee pressed, “I’ve never seen one like it before.”

Will had to think on it for a moment. He’d seen more than a few pokeballs in his time as a trainer traveling the world but he couldn’t recall any that looked quite like this. There was something familiar about it that Will couldn’t put his finger on. The two ovals on the front reminded him of something but what Will couldn’t say what.

“Haven’t the faintest,” Will admitted finally, turning the ball over in his hands and examining it.

“That Mr. Beast guy makes them, yeah? Maybe it’s a new kind or something,” Josh shrugged and both Will and Gee snapped their eyes over to him, shocked, “What?”

“That’s genius,” Gee grinned and this time it was Josh who blushed. Will shared a can-you-believe-this-shit look with Squirtle before the pokemon hopped down from Gee’s lap. She continued, “It would make sense too. Like maybe this ball is incredibly powerful or something?”

Will perked up, “Yeah, or maybe it has a legendary pokemon inside!”

Just as the three of them beamed, Squirtle yanked the empty box off of Will’s lap. Will stopped to watch Squirtle rifle around inside of it for a second before he opened his mouth to tell the little shit off. Only he didn’t get a chance before Squirtle snapped to attention proudly, a piece of paper clutched in his little blue hand. Will offered up a chastised smile when Squirtle stuffed the note into his waiting palm with a huffy sigh.

“Thanks,” he acknowledge before turning the paper the right way up so he could read it, “_Chandler, since you opened my mail again, try out the rotoball prototype and tell me if your Rotom responds well. I made it more comfortable this time. -Jimmy_.”

“A rotoball?” Josh pouted, all of them deflating in disappointment, “So it isn’t some cool new weapon to fight baddies with then?”

Will thought about it for a second. There had to be a reason Team10 had wanted the rotoball badly enough to attack him in the street, badly enough to _ kidnap _ its creator when they couldn’t get it from him. Even if it wasn’t some magical, legendary beast from another dimension they could fight alongside to end all evil, it had to be important _ somehow _. Will looked up and caught Gee’s eye. He realized right away she must be thinking the same thing as him because she looked calculating and thoughtful.

“This ball has to mean something,” Will told her, “Otherwise why would Team10 want it so badly?”

Gee nodded, “I agree. We have to be missing something. If only we had a Rotom who could test it out.”

Will let out a heavy gust of a sigh before he could stop himself. Of course it had to come to this. No matter how hard Will tried to leave his life as a trainer behind, shit like this kept coming back to haunt him. He glanced down at Squirtle who was watching him with something between concern and irritation twisting across his features. Will sighed again just because he could.

“What?” Gee smirked at his suffering, “Do _ you _know where we can find a Rotom?”

Will sank down into the chair just so he could glare up at the ceiling, “Unfortunately.”

Eventually, Will left the other two to get back to work and so he could catch up on some well earned sleep. Before he stepped out of the office, Gee passed him the company credit card, making him promise to stock up on some battling supplies and keep the purchase under ten thousand pokeyen. Will was eternally grateful to have Gee in his life. He told her so when he wrapped her up in a big hug and she made sure to tell him that he very well should be.

After all the excitement that had happened that morning, Will’s flat felt especially quiet and empty when he finally made it home. He let all of his pokemon out of their balls so he could make them some breakfast but also to break up the unnervingly vacant atmosphere. Before making himself a bowl of cereal, Will passed around some food to everyone. While they all ate happily, Will found an old football match on TV to keep them entertained so he could sleep without being disturbed.

He woke up hours later with a headache and a stiff back. When Will rolled over, he expected Manectric to be asleep at his feet so he moved his legs to avoid kicking her. Then the reality of last night came crashing back to him and Will was suddenly overwhelmed with an onslaught of emotion. He curled up, tucking his legs in close to his body, and dragged his pillow down over his head.

Will had never been the trainer he used to dream of as a kid. Still, he loved his pokemon with all of his heart and they were his best friends. He’d wanted to leave the trainer’s life for _ them_. Watching them fight and faint just so Will could have the bragging rights of another gym badge had started to weigh on his heart. Now, he had uprooted his entire life to move to the best city in the world for pokemon and he was still letting them down.

A touch to his hand surprised him and Will jumped. He peeled the pillow off his face and was met with one of Dodrio’s heads, brows furrowed down at him sadly. When Will reached out to ruffle her feathers softly, he realized his other pokemon were in his bedroom too. They were watching him intensely and not for the first time, Will wished he could understand them. Ursaring opened her arms, as if asking for a hug. 

Will shoved all of his blankets away in a rush to climb into her warm fur. He squeezed her tight as she wound her furry arms around him. His other pokemon moved to join the embrace. Dodrio nuzzled the back of his head and neck and Bastiodon pressed his forehead into Will’s palm. Machamp patted his on his mop of hair comfortingly when Will choked over the sticky, wet emotions clinging to his throat. Even Squirtle came over to lay a gentle little hand on Will’s knee.

“I’m _ sorry_,” he told them even though he knew they couldn’t understand. When they squeezed him tighter, Will wanted to believe they were telling him it was alright.

Will only allowed the embrace for a moment before he was brushing his friends off and shoving himself to his feet with probably the least assuring smile he could muster. Outside the sun had already dipped below the horizon but hadn’t completely vanished yet for the night, painting the concrete streets of Will’s neighborhood in a spectrum of gold and orange. Since he didn’t have to work, Will pulled on a comfortable pair of black jeans with holes in the knees and a hoodie instead of his dreaded bright blue and white uniform.

As he entered his kitchen, Will paused at his counter to stare at his phone, damning it with his glare as if it was somehow the device’s fault Will was about to make a call he knew he’d regret. He scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he was looking for and then Will hesitated. God, he was being stupid. Will hit the call button before he could talk himself out of it. The phone rang two times before it was picked up.

“Yullo!” a man answered, chipper, and he was not the one Will had been trying to call at all.

Will sighed into the line as he rubbed at the stress wrinkling his forehead, “Max. Hey. Is Stephen there?”

“_Will_?” the other man sounded more shocked than angry so Will took that as a win.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Will closed his eyes so he could shove his palm into his socket, trying to physically push his headache away, “I really need to talk to Stephen.”

“Oh, right,” Max started but quickly continued, “Stephen isn’t here right now. You know how the lad gets. Always chasing some story or another. I can take a message for you if-”

“No,” Will cut in, probably too abruptly and too harshly. Of course Stephen didn’t want to talk to him. If that’s how he wanted to play this, then Will would just look for help somewhere else, “Nevermind.”

Max sighed softly on the other line, “Will...You know that he...well...Stephen tries-”

“Yeah, right okay,” Will snapped, “Well if he’s done trying and he wants to start _ doing _tell him to give us a fucking call.”

When Will hung up abruptly, he immediately regretted ending the conversation like that. Max had always been a stand up guy and he had nothing to do with Stephen and Will’s issues. Will knew Max had only been looking out for his friend and that made Will the asshole of that conversation. Still, he knew Max would send his message along to Stephen and even though he was a complete _ dickwad, _Stephen would call Will back. He would be too damn curious not to, if nothing else.

When Will checked the time it was nearing eight so he decided to get a move on. He’d stop at a Poke Mart to stock up on some potions with the money Gee had given him and then head out to catch the train across town. It shouldn’t take him two whole hours but Will figured if he got to Staryubucks a little early, it wouldn’t exactly be a problem. He put all of his pokemon away except Ursaring so she could stretch her legs a bit before slipping on his sneakers and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Will locked the door behind him as he left, ready to face whatever trouble lay ahead in the twilight streets of Ryme City.


	4. Chapter 4

Will couldn’t decide if he wanted to buy full heals or individuals status restore items. Obviously, the full heals would clear up all possible problems he could encounter but on the other hand it was cheaper to buy the antidote, awakening, and paralyze heal set that was on sale. In the end he bought three full heals and a pack of ten super potions. Back when he was a trainer, supplies were a lot cheaper. Then again, battling trainers and beating gyms was a much more lucrative practice than delivering mail.

As he was stuffing his purchases into his backpack, Will was exiting the train station and he ran shoulder-to-shoulder into another person. While he stumbled back a step, she fell on her butt with a startled yelp. Will quickly caught himself and immediately dropped his backpack in his hurry to help the woman to her feet. His cheeks burned in embarrassment but she was laughing so at least she wasn’t hurt.

“Mia!” he caught her hand to help her up, “I wasn’t looking where I was going, I’m sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it, Will,” Mia brushed dust off her shorts and bent to take her dropped purse out of Mawile’s grip, “I wasn’t paying attention either, it’s no biggie,” then she smiled at Will and Will’s heart skipped a beat; she was still as beautiful as ever, “It’s been a while. Want to get a coffee and catch up? I’d love to hear about how your Bastiodon’s doing. I just revived a skull fossil into a Craniodos, we should spar sometime! For science, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Will cracked a grin but when he checked his watch, he was surprised to see that it was already getting late. It made sense because the Fossil Museum stayed open pretty late and Mia was clearly on her way home. 

“I can’t tonight, sorry,” Will really wanted to drop everything and buy Mia a cup of coffee the moment her shoulders sagged in disappointment but he _ couldn’t_, “Maybe some other time? You can talk wuh ear off about dome fossils and we won’t even zone out, promise.”

Mia grinned despite the situation, “Alright, fine. But I’m holding you to that. Here, let me give you my number,” she held out a hand for his phone and Will passed it over so she could type her digits into it.

When she passed the device back, Will promised, “I’ll call and we can work it out.”

“Great,” Mia caught his elbow so she could go up on her tippy toes and _ kiss Will on the cheek_, “See you around, Will.”

Will stood frozen even as Mia waved at him and her and Mawile headed into the train station. Then his whole face flooded red and he glanced at Ursaring who was positively beaming at him. She wrapped him up in a spine crushing hug that squeezed all of the air from Will’s lungs while he was still processing what had just happened. Had Mia actually…? Did that mean-was she-? Did she just ask Will out on a _ date_ ? And Will said _ NO_? Will groaned, embarrassed, and buried his face in Ursaring’s fur.

“We are daft,” he grumbled, “Completely fucking _ daft_.”

Will made it to the Staryubucks at ten sharp just as one of the baristas was flipping the sign to “closed.” He stopped when he noticed Will and cracked the door open, poking his head of curly blonde hair out. Squinting his eyes at Will, the employee looked him up and down while the Mankey on his shoulder leered at him to match.

“You Will?”

“Uh,” Will was taken aback by his demanding tone, “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Why’d you hesitate, mate, huh? Don’t know your own name?” the barista asked, loud and fast, “Wait! Are you an _ imposter_, bro? Answer me! Hurry up!”

Another employee shoved at the man, pulling the door open wide, “Jesus Christ, Joshy, what are you on about?” his voice was heavy with a thick Galar accent, “Come on in, Will. George told us you’d be coming.”

“You’re no fun, Lewis, mate,” Joshy rolled his eyes and moved back into the restaurant, “George is closing up the kitchen so pick a table and have a sit, _ Will_. Sure he won’t be but a minute!”

At the other man’s sarcastic, high-energy tone, Will hesitated. Lewis rolled his eyes and pointed out a table in the front by the window. A familiar figure was already sitting there, wearing the same pink hoodie Will had seen him in before and his Sylveon was asleep on the table next to his elbow. Alex smiled at Will, a little awkwardly, and waved him over.

“Want something to drink?” Lewis asked and his Scorbunny followed him around the counter before hopping up onto it, “Haven’t cleaned the coffee machine yet.”

Will didn’t really drink coffee but he shrugged anyway, “Yeah, sure. Thanks fella.”

“Hi, Will,” Alex greeted him and motioned for Will to sit across from him, “How’s it going?”

“Oh, you know,” Will dropped into the booth with a dramatic flourish and Ursaring plopped down to lay on the floor, curled up next to him, “Just ditching the girl of my dreams to spend my evening with a masked asshole who disappears without giving us so much as a phone number.”

Alex snorted, “Yeah, I called in sick for this so it better be good.”

“You’re here!” George yelled as he ran out from the back kitchen, a Sableye hot on his tail, “Finally! I’ve got a lead that-”

“George!” Joshy shouted from the kitchen behind him, “I’m not closing the kitchen down for you! That’s literally your job, mate!”

George turned to yell over his shoulder, “Shut up, I covered for you last week! Everything’s done anyway, just wipe down the counters!”

“You wipe down the fucking counters!” Joshy yelled back.

George turned around, fully ready to storm back into the kitchen, but Lewis laid a hand on his shoulder. The red haired man smiled at George and passed a steaming mug of coffee into George’s hand. He patted Sableye on top of his head and his jewel eyes glowed in delight.

“I got him, don’t worry about it,” Lewis chuckled, shaking his head when there was a crash from the kitchen, “You know how he is. You clean the coffee machine and I’ll make sure the kitchen gets done.”

“Yeah, alright,” George huffed, deflating, “Thanks.”

“No sweat,” Lewis waved George off and his Scorbunny followed as they moved toward the kitchen, “Don’t die out there.”

“Please do!” Joshy shouted, “You’d be doing us all a favor!”

“Oh shut the hell up, man,” Lewis laughed as he held the kitchen door open for his pokemon, “You’re not as funny as you think you are.”

“Piss off, I’m hilarious,” Joshy snapped, “Get a fucking washcloth then-” but his loud voice was muffled by the closing door as Lewis sauntered into the kitchen, leaving George alone in the cafe with Alex and Will.

“So…” Will started when George shoved into the seat across from him, forcing Alex to scoot over. His Sableye climbed up the back of the booth, draping himself over the top of the seat between Alex and George. He grinned at Will with rows of razor sharp teeth, both unnerving and charming, as Will continued, “You’ve got a lead then?”

George took the coffee that had been intended for Will but Will didn’t mind; he was more of a tea drinker anyway. “Do I ever,” George started, gesturing wildly with the hand that wasn’t holding the mug of piping hot liquid, “So remember my mate Pyrocynical I told you about?” and Will nodded even though he didn’t really, “Well he’s, like, a hacker. Or whatever. Uses computers real good,” Will narrowed his eyes but George just kept talking, “He found Mr. Beast.”

Will straightened up in his seat immediately and across from him so did Alex, “What? You’re sure?”

“Definitely,” George continued, “Pyro used like. Phones or whatever. Mr. Beast’s phone pinged at the docks. Why the heck would a fancy-pants professor like him be at the _ docks_? It must be where they’re holding him hostage.”

“Okay, George, that’s great and all,” Alex started, frowning, “but what are we supposed to do about it?”

“Go and rescue him, obviously,” George countered, “Someone has to.”

“And that someone has to be us because…?” Alex asked with a sarcastic tone but a serious frown.

“Because we’re pokemon trainers,” Will answered, shooting George a meaningful look, “and we don’t stand by and let arseholes like Team10 get away with this shit. Not when we’s can stop em.”

“Exactly,” George agreed eagerly, “Alex I know-”

“But you don’t, George,” Alex sighed, looking tired far beyond his years, “I won’t battle.”

“I’m not asking you to,” George lowered his voice, sincere, “But come with us on this. I need your help. In case any of our pokemon get hurt, we need you there.”

Alex deflated, “Alright, George. But I’m doing it for the pokemon, not for you two idiots.”

“Gee, thanks,” Will chuckled, shaking his head, "So when are we doing this?"

"Now," George said like it was obvious, "The sooner, the better."

The docks were exactly as sketchy as they sounded. Warehouses lined the cement river's edge, stacked and piled around each other like the very shipping crates stored inside. There was a distinctly...wet smell permeating the air, like fish type pokemon and damp, unwashed socks. At night, the dockworkers had gone home for the day and instead the unsavories of Ryme City had come out to cause trouble. Will had never really had a reason to come to the docks before and part of him, a very big part, really wished he still didn't.

"God, what is that smell?" Alex groaned, his hoodie pulled up around his nose.

"What?" George asked from under his mask, "I don't smell anything."

"Yeah well you's wouldn't with that get up, now would you?" Will added, "Do you really need the whole 'masked vigilante superhero' thing right now? Me and Alex haven't got any disguises."

George shrugged, "Not my problem I'm the only one who thought ahead."

"Thought-?!" Will spluttered, "They were in my bag! You wouldn't even have em if not for me-!"

"Guys, can we focus?" Alex sighed glancing around the empty, moonlit street, "Where are we even going?"

"Right, so Pyro texted me the location," George pulled his cellphone out of his back pocket, checking the screen. He paused. 

Will and Alex immediately exchanged a Look™ before squishing together on either side of the masked man to see for themselves. There was a map on the screen. A little, red blip too. Will glanced over to see that Alex had an equally flummoxed look on his face. So he wasn't the only one who had no idea what he was looking at.

"Uh…" George started, "I think that's a street?" He pointed to one of the lines on the screen.

"Right, okay," Will nodded, "Which one though?"

Nothing was labeled clearly. It wasn't their fault George's friend sent them a bogus map. Will tilted his head to get a better look. There was blue on it. Blue probably meant water. So that was most likely the river. Trailing just along the blue block was another line and it crossed _ another _line that led to the red blip. Will pointed it out to the other two.

"This a road by the river?" he traced down to the other path and suggested, "We could follow it here."

"That's what I was thinking too," Alex nodded along.

"Me too," George hurried to add and Will rolled his eyes but politely didn't call George out on it, "We should probably try to keep a low profile. Sneak around and all that.”

“Good idea,” Will nodded but as he turned to move toward the river, George caught him by his sleeve.

“I meant our pokemon too,” George explained as he put Sableye, and his gleaming sapphire eyes, back into his dusk ball, “We’ve gotta be stealthy.”

“Oh, right,” Will glanced back at the massive, lumbering form of his Ursaring and drew her pokeball, “Sorry, but you heard the man. In you’s go.”

“Alex?” George asked, drawing a great ball and releasing a Skuntank.

“What?” Alex raised a questioning brow, “Sylveon is small and quiet.” She chirped in agreement from where she was circling Alex’s ankles.

“Yeah and her eyes _ glow _bright blue,” George gestured to the pink pokemon and sure enough her eyes were a luminescent light in the dark.

“Yeah, alright,” Alex rolled his eyes and drew a heal ball, “Come on back, Sylveon.”

The three of them ducked under a flickering streetlight between two rusting warehouses. The dark catwalk between the buildings was shrouded in shadow and there was a heavy feeling in the air that really completed the whole creepy picture. When Will followed behind George who was following his Skuntank in the dark, he could have sworn the hair on the back of his neck was literally standing on end. Will glanced back at Alex when there was the short crack of an electric zap and a quiet, irritated hiss. Will halted, reaching out and snagging George by the back of his sweatshirt.

"Stop," he demanded, not flinching when Alex stumbled into his back, "We're in an Electric Terrain."

"What?" Alex asked in a rush, "How do you know?"

Will tightened his grip on George when he turned to look at him through his glasses before quickly letting go. He cleared his throat, suddenly uncertain, "Manectric. It's a move Manectric knows."

"Then it sounds like we're in the right place," George said assuredly, "Let's keep moving."

Will offered a nod in return and George motioned for them to continue forward. The static in the air was so cloyingly thick it was almost enough to choke on. A prickling sensation of charged air crept across Will's skin like a thousand Wurmple marathon; it was annoying and impossible to shake. In front of him, George rubbed a hand at the back of his neck and Will knew then he wasn't the only one feeling the uncomfortable effects of the static field. Luckily for Will, he’d had plenty of practice using the move but that prickling sensation zipping across his skin wasn’t one he’d ever really gotten used to.

They followed along the sidewalk at the edge of the river, and it _ reeked _like wet garbage the closer they got to the water, before cutting over into another creepy alley. They slowed as they came to be near the red spot of George’s phone. 

Ahead was a building that stood out amongst the shed-like warehouses. The building was tall, three stories, and made of cinder block bricks. Graffiti covered the bottom floor like a gaggle of spray cans got together to vomit all over it, just a mess of colors and shapes. Distinctly, they could hear muffled music coming from inside and the streetlights were glowing extra bright, an effect caused by being at the center of the Electric Terrain.

“A secret hideout?” Will suggested as the trio dipped behind a shipping crate at the mouth of the alley.

“Could be,” George hummed thoughtfully, “Let’s find out.”

Alex’s hand shot out and caught George’s arm in a tight grip, jerking him to a halt. “You cannot be serious,” he hissed, “We have no idea how many trainers are in there!”

“Manectric could be inside, I’m going in,” Will looked the building over; there was no way to tell how many assholes Team10 had cooped up in there but he didn’t care if it meant finding his pokemon, “You’s can stay here if you want but I’m not letting them get away with her again.”

George shook Alex off but not before Alex deflated and let the grip on the other man loose. He nodded at Will and drew a pokeball, “I got your back, Will. I promised we’d save her and I meant it. Besides someone’s gotta save Mr. Beast from these knobheads.”

“This is a terrible idea,” Alex chastised but his voice held no fight whatsoever, “It’s dangerous and stupid and reckless...but I came here to help so I will.”

“Right,” Will sucked in a steady breath that doused the fiery determination in his veins into a calm, simmering rage. 

As he stood, walking straight ahead to the front door, Will drew a pokeball from his belt. Even though he had no idea what he was walking into, Will had the advantage of being prepared. This time, he wasn’t being caught off guard in the wee hours of the morning after a long shift and two years off falling out of practice. This time, Will was ready for anything. He reached for the handle, took one more calming breath, and opened the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the dreadfully slow update. I got caught up with school! Anyway, thanks for reading~~

Will thought he knew what to expect. He told himself there would be hordes of red and white designer clothes toting tories ready to throw down the moment they entered the building. Instead, the front door opened into an empty, concrete, and dimly lit entryway. The music that had been nothing but a muffled thump of bass before increased in volume tenfold as the trio stepped inside the building. Will held a pokeball at the ready, hesitant to release the pokemon inside until absolutely necessary, and shot George a tense look as he pulled the door closed behind them.

"What is this place?" Will asked, not expecting an answer.

"A club?" Alex offered.

George glanced around the empty space. "I don't know. I don't like this," he finally stopped to face Will, "Why would they have a disco hideout?"

"'Cause they're a buncha mongs?" Will shrugged, turning toward the only direction they could go, down the hallway ahead, "Why don't we find them and ask?"

Alex snorted, "Yeah that'll go over well."

The three moved ahead, chasing the booming music and steadily growing number of flashing lights. They didn't bother to sneak or take their time. Will didn't release his pokemon yet, narrow halls and all, but George's Skuntank waddled ahead of him. Will couldn't help but be afraid of his tail even though they were allies, knowing how dangerous the poison inside could be.

Suddenly they all jumped, and George shrieked even though he adamantly denied it, when Will's phone rang. He dropped his pokeball in his rush to get the device out of his pocket and Skuntank stopped it from rolling away with a swift paw. Alex stooped to pick the ball up while Will scrambled to end the call. George was yelling at him to hurry up and Will buckled under the pressure, his fingers accidentally hitting the answer button instead.

"Shit!" he gasped at the same time George shoved at his shoulder.

"Hang up!" he demanded in a rush, "Hang up, Will!"

"Hello?" Stephen's familiar voice chirped out of the speaker and Will knew he had no choice; if he didn't talk to the other man now and explain what was going on there was no way Stephen would pick up later, "Will?"

"Shut _ up, _George!" Will snapped and shoved George away before lifting the phone to his ear, "Yes, hello Stephen, now's not really a good time."

"Of course it isn't," Stephen laughed through the line, sharp and bitter, "It never is, right? Why did I let Max talk me into calling you? You haven't changed even a little-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Will interrupted, trying to derail Stephen's train of thought, "It isn't like that, I swear. I just-hrk!" Will was cut off when Alex grabbed him and George by their sweaters and yanked them down into a crouch.

"_Guys_," he hissed emphatically, "Do you hear that?"

"Will?" Stephen's voice had taken a mischievous edge, "Are you piping lads again?"

"_Stephen_," Will chastised, “This is serious, okay!”

“I think I hear someone coming!” Alex insisted.

“Must be for you to call me,” Stephen sneered, “Is that what this was about? Of course you weren’t trying to apologize. You need my help, right? You really haven’t changed.”

“I _ am _sorry,” Will held up a hand, motioning for Alex to be quiet and the smaller man glared at him, “Stephen. I really am sorry for what I did back then. If it makes you feel any better I’m not a trainer anymore. Not an official one in any league anyway.”

“Chat later!” George demanded, “We’ve got company!”

“What do you mean ‘not an official trainer’?” Stephen’s voice had turned thoughtful, “Battling is illegal in Ryme City if you aren’t in the Pokemon League.”

“Yeah, about that...” Will grimaced when around the corner ahead of them three grunts ran out. They looked different than before: no longer were they wearing red and white athletic clothes but these three had on matching denim jackets with a Braviary stitched into the chest and jeans. They started yelling the moment they spotted Will, George, and Alex and Will finally released Ursaring, preparing for battle.

“Goddamnit!” George yelled, steering Alex behind him, “It’s The Mavericks!”

“Will…” Stephen asked, voice somewhere between worried and amused, “What kind of trouble have you gone and gotten into this time?”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Will almost sighed, “We’re at the docks saving Mr. Beast from a bunch of twat assholes, it’s a really long story.”

“Sounds like it,” Stephen paused, that way he always did when he was thinking something over, “Alright, I’ll help. Where do you need me, lad?”

“Where-?” Will was shocked speechless, “No, I don’t need--just let me call you back later, yeah?”

Stephen huffed a laugh, “This better not be some elaborate _ scheme _to get me to forgive you.”

“We both know I’m not that smart,” Will chuckled; it felt so fucking good to be on speaking terms with Stephen again, even after everything--or maybe because of everything--they’d been through together, “I’ll call you’s back, I swear.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Stephen replied cheekily, “I’ll be here eagerly awaiting your call.” Then Stephen hung up with a decisive click.

"You done?" George snapped, readying up his pokemon when the three grunts in front of them drew their pokeballs.

Under George's anger, something in Will's mind clicked. He had completely forgotten to clue George in on the rotoball sitting empty in the bottom of his backpack. The one that Will was sure was the key to _ something._ He grimaced as he tucked his phone back into his pocket and decided he'd explain it to the other men later, once they weren't in the middle of battling a bunch of idiots. Will threw the ball in his hand, releasing his Ursaring.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Will offered, "We'll tell you about it later."

"Can't wait," George snorted dryly, "Now that you're back with us, these ain't Team10. They're The Mavericks."

When Will quirked a confused brow, Alex cut in, "They're basically the same: morons who run around at night causing trouble."

"If they're here too we're in for a fight," George explained.

"Damn right you are, bro!" one of the grunts shouted, releasing a Voltorb at his feet, "You are gonna regret fucking with us, Memeulous."

"Yeah, cause I never heard _ that _ before," George huffed a laugh and released his Mimikyu next to his Skuntank. It was a good combo. Mimikyu had a high attack and Skuntank had a high defense.

Will debated releasing another pokemon alongside Ursaring but decided there wasn't enough room in the narrow hallway. The other two thugs followed their friend's lead and released their pokemon as well: a Vikavolt and a Diggersby. Will instantly knew the other team of trainers had the advantage. The Electric Terrain still crackled through the air, so thick Will could taste the ions on the backs of his teeth. Their parties were clearly tailored to suit the field affecting move and that meant they'd been prepared for a battle. That was a decidedly _ bad _sign.

"George, mind the terrain," Will reminded his partner, "They've got an advantage."

"Right," George nodded seriously, "Then we better make the first move." He threw out a hand, ordering his pokemon to move forward, "Go! Mimikyu use Hone Claws, Skuntank use Toxic!"

While Mimikyu sharpened its claws to heighten its attack and accuracy, Skuntank turned and sprayed the poison stored in its tail at the enemies, drenching them in the toxic liquid and leaving them poisoned. Quick to be a part of the fight, Will turned to Ursaring.

"Ursaring, use Hammer Arm on Diggersby!” Will knew that the fighting type move would be super effective against the normal and ground type pokemon.

The trainers were still reeling over their poisoned pokemon so they didn’t have an opportunity to dodge Will’s attack. The Diggersby nearly fainted from the direct hit, left wobbly and injured on top of its poisoning. His trainer was quick to use a potion on his pokemon while the other two commanded theirs to use powerful but predictable electric type moves. Voltorb rolled forward, hitting Ursaring with Spark, and Vikavolt landed a Discharge on George's Skuntank. It was sloppy on their part--the moves were more powerful than usual but Ursaring and Skuntank's high defense stats compensated for the damage.

"Mimikyu use Slash on Voltorb," George ordered immediately, "Skuntank use Venoshock!"

George had set it up so Ursaring could attack Diggersby again and finish him off and Will took advantage of it. When Ursaring used Hammer Arm again, the Diggersby had no chance to avoid the hit and he fainted from the blow. At the same time, Mimikyu's Slash landed in a critical hit, knocking the Voltorb out as well. With the Vikavolt already poisoned, he didn't stand a chance against Skuntank's Venoshock and he fainted with his allies.

The grunts withdrew their injured pokemon and immediately took a unified step back. One pointed an angry, accusatory finger at George. His hand was shaking and next to him, another grunt was crying. Will shared a disbelieving look with Alex behind him.

"You're-you're gonna pay for this!" the grunt barked, "Boss!" he yelled, turning around and running back the way he came, "Boss! Intruders!"

"So much for being sneaky and catching them by surprise," George huffed but he couldn't restrict the cocky edge to his voice.

Somewhere deep in the building, the music dropped to sudden and abrupt silence. With the unsettling quiet came an unshakeable disquiet. Will glanced back at Alex who looked nervous but determined, within his aqua gaze was the same fire Will could feel in his own soul. There really was no going back now, not for any of them.

"Come on," Will took the lead and Ursaring followed beside him, "Let's go after those asshats. Maybe they'll lead us to this Boss fella."

Without the music thumping in the air, the noise of the retreating footsteps was loud and easy enough to follow. The halls weren’t that twisty or turny and after only a short jog, the trio reached a heavy set of metal doors unlike any of the others they’d passed so far. The Electric Terrain was so thick, Ursaring’s fur poofed up and static zipped across the brown surface. Skuntank wasn’t fairing much better behind her. Will hesitated at the doors. Something didn’t feel right, with them being metal and all. 

He held up a hand, motioning for George and Alex to back up a step. With a nod from George, the pair acquiesced and let Will take the lead. It was refreshing to be trusted so entirely, if not a little unnerving. Will glanced up at Ursaring and she huffed down at him, a noise that seemed more reassuring than anything. Inhaling a calming breath that tasted like a thunderstorm, Will finally reached out and slowly, carefully, tapped the door handle. A zap cracked out at the same time a jolt of electric heat burned the tips of his fingers and Will yanked his hand back with a hiss. He suspected as much.

“Nice trick,” Alex snorted, “What now?”

“Maybe there's another way around?" Will suggested.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the recognizable pop of an electric move and a shout of pain came from the other side of the door. Will's stomach shot up into his throat as it summersalted in dread. Manectric was behind those doors and Will knew he had to do something. 

Before he could think it through, or turn to George to discuss his plan, Will took a step back and kicked the sparking door handle open with the rubber sole of his shoe. George shouted a question behind him that Will didn't hear as he rushed into the room. The thought of the smarmy arseholes using Manectric against her will boiled Will's blood. In his anger, Will acted without thinking and charged the room with Ursaring hot on his heels. Behind him, the doors slammed shut before either George or Alex had a chance to follow.

Will was flabbergasted at the sight before him. Again, there were no red and white designer tracksuit wearing morons waiting for him. There was no Neanderthal looking idiot with a slit in his eyebrow. Manectric wasn't there. Instead, a man in a denim jacket with a Braviary across the back and a bright green surgical mask, that was by no means medical or effective, over his mouth was standing in the center of what appeared to be an empty nightclub. There was a dance floor and a dj booth and even a second floor balcony. But no music, no dancers, no club goers at all. Will did not miss the Electivire standing at the man's side, massive and imposing, but he _ did _ almost miss the man laying curled up on the floor at the masked fella and his pokemon's feet. Will's stomach plummeted in shocked, horrified understanding.

Suddenly, Will was blasted off his feet. He slammed into the concrete floor, bonking his head hard enough to send his vision spinning. He was soaking wet in ice cold water and immediately aware of an aching pain all along his shoulder, arm, and side where the Hydro Pump landed. As he tried to push himself up, Will saw Ursaring get hit with a blast of water too but she endured the hit much better than him. He was blinking the water from his eyes and trying to shake off the blow to his head enough for his world to come back into focus when the man in the stupid lime green mask laughed. Then Will saw Electivire ready a Thunder Punch and before he could order Ursaring out of the way, the hit had landed. The Electric Terrain combined with the water dripping off her fur only strengthened the blow. Will watched helplessly as his pokemon fainted at his feet.

"Who the fuck are you, dude?" The masked man dropped a sneaker into the back of the man at his feet, shoving him into the floor.

Will tried to draw one of the balls at his belt, but before he could, he was caught up from behind. Two massive blue arms circled his middle and lifted him off of his feet. Will's breaths were forced from his lungs and he choked over an inhale as he tried to squirm and kick himself free. The Poliwrath behind him didn't let up. Will's arms were trapped against his chest, shoved in too tightly against his solar plexus so he couldn’t breathe properly and he definitely couldn’t draw any of his pokeballs. The danger of his situation really hit him then; this wasn’t the kind of battle he was used to. Pokemon were never supposed to attack trainers like this. Will stopped fighting the Poliwrath’s hold on him so he could scowl in the masked man’s direction.

“This is completely fucked, you know that right?” Will growled but the effect was weakened when he had to stop halfway through to suck in a few short, panted breaths, “You’re abusing your pokemon, forcing them to hurt people like this.”

“Is that right?” the man in the denim jacket crowed, “And this is different from forcing them to hurt pokemon how exactly? We’re all assholes here, dude. Now I’m not gonna ask again. Who are you?” his blue eyes narrowed, piercing, “And where is Team10?”

Before he could answer the doors were thrown open and George and Alex rushed in, cursing the electricity zipping through their limbs. Immediately Alex spotted him as George’s attention was stolen by the man in the mask. His sharp blue eyes darted from Will to George and Will watched as they crinkled in amusement.

“Will!” Alex called out and tried to run to Will’s side, but George halted him with a firm grip on Alex’s wrist.

“Memeulous,” the masked man said with venom coating his words, “I should have guessed. You got your own little team now?” he looked at Will again before sneering, “I gotta say, I’m not impressed.”

“Is that-?” Alex’s attention was finally drawn to the villain and the man at his feet, “Is that Professor Donaldson?”

“Kidnapping seems a bit bold for The Mavericks,” George snorted, “What? You get tired of bullying kids out of their lunch money?”

The man growled, “You won't fuck with our plans this time Memeulous. Team10 is going down once and for all. Then The Mavericks will _ own _Ryme City."

Will realized then that the trap hadn't been laid for him and George. This building wasn't full of rapscallions waiting to lure out Memeulous and get revenge. Team10 wasn't even here. He glanced at the Electivire and watched as he flexed his massive arms, strengthening his Electric Terrain. Manectric wasn't here. This had all been a trap laid out for Team10, and the three of them fell right into it. Will side-eyed George and his stance told him he'd probably come to that conclusion as well.

"You're trying to stop Team10, rule the streets, blah, blah," George started, "I get that," then he gestured toward the professor at the leader's feet, "But why Mr. Beast? What's he done to deserve any of this? Pretty sure that man is frickin' charity incarnate."

The masked villain snorted a laugh, "Totally. This dude shits love and rainbows," he reeled his leg back and kicked the man in question right in the ribs. He managed a groan but Will got the impression he was either unconscious or nearly there, "He also made that snag machine Team10's big cheese wears. Apparently he made some kinda machine prototype to counter it too. I figured out Team10 was going after him and his new toy so I snagged _ him _ before they could. They want their stupid little toys then they are going to have to go through me."

Will hadn't expected the criminal to be so forthcoming, George apparently had though. He nodded along and after the man was done, asked, "Is it really worth this? You've never been-"

"Well I am now!" the bad guy cut George off, "The Mavericks are tired of being pussies on the sidelines. We aren't gonna take the L anymore."

Will wanted to laugh so bad but he could tell the man was being deadly serious and he was still wholly aware of the dangers he was in. George had no such reservations and he guffawed. Alex snickered too but had the decency to drive his elbow into George's side, trying to shut him up. The leader snarled and signaled over his head. The moment he did, more grunts bled out of the woodwork, circling the group. As quickly as Will's amusement had come, it had gone, replaced by dread once again.

"You won't be laughing like that soon, Memeulous," the leader hissed before turning to Will, "Poliwrath," Will felt a flutter of panic under his skin when the man's ice blue eyes zeroed in on him, "Kill him."

A giant white hand closed around Will's throat and his neck had never felt so small. Will cried out but it was quickly cut off when the Poliwrath _squeezed_. Immediately Alex and George started shouting and Will kicked out his legs, desperately trying to get free. Will wanted to hate the giant monster crushing the life out of him but he _ couldn_'_t_. There were no bad pokemon, after all--just bad trainers.

"Stop!" George demanded, drawing two more balls from his belt. Before he could release the pokemon inside, the leader relented.

"Poliwrath, stop," he ordered and the moment the Poliwrath's hold loosened, Will gulped down air like water to the thirsty. "You got me thinking," the masked ass continued, ignoring Will and looking only at George, "I don't want to kill your lackey, Memeulous. I want to kill _ you_."

George took a step back as the group surrounding them took a step closer. He fidgeted with his pokeballs as Alex shuffled nervously behind him. The trio was grossly outnumbered and massively at a disadvantage with the Electric Terrain still buzzing around them.Ursaring was still laying, fainted, in a puddle of water on the floor. Will felt sick. Even though Poliwrath was no longer squeezing the life out him, Will still felt choked up. Then George suddenly squared his shoulders and withdrew Mimikyu and Skuntank.

"Alright," he said with confidence Will was sure George didn't feel, "But let them go. They didn't have nothing to do with all this. I won't even fight you but you gotta let them go man. They've never done anything to you or The Mavericks," George pointed at Will and snickered, despite himself, "He called the leader of Team10 a dickhead. You'd probably get on. Just, let them go man."

The leader laughed in delight. He ordered Electivire into the field and Will wanted to be impressed that George held his ground when the imposing figure of the pokemon approached him but he was too scared. This wasn't some robbery gone wrong here. These lunatics wanted to _ murder _ George. Electivire was ordered to use Cross Chop on George and he did, without hesitation. George threw his arms up to shield his face and the blow caught him in the stomach. He was thrown to the floor like a sack of potatoes, immediately curling in on himself and clutching at his abdomen.

"George!" Alex cried out but when he tried to rush forward, a group of grunts blocked him. Instead he turned to the leader, "This is _ despicable_," he snarled, more emotional than Will had ever seen. His cool aqua eyes were burning with rage, "How can you use your pokemon like this? You're a _ coward_."

"Tell your little boyfriend to shut his mouth, _ George_," the leader barked, "Or we'll shut it for him."

George snorted in a facsimile of a laugh: a distinctly wet sound like his throat couldn't make up its mind between laughing or sobbing. His sunglasses were crooked and his hat was falling off but his bandana was still covering his mouth. A dash of red had bled through the white front over George's lips and Will really hoped he had just bitten his cheek really hard. George gingerly pushed himself up into a sitting position. He turned toward the leader and ignored the Electivire still looming over him.

"Alex wouldn't stop talking even if you wished on Jirachi, mate," George laughed again, "And he isn't my boyfriend. That's getting really old."

"Stop this," Alex barked, still fuming, "Can't you see how fucked this is? Forcing your pokemon to commit murder so you can keep your fucking hands clean is a _ disgrace_-"

"Electivire, finish off Memeulous with a Thunder Punch so we can break this little bitch's neck," the leader growled menacingly and Will started struggling against Poliwrath's hold anew. He couldn't watch and do nothing as his friends were murdered in front of him, "That oughta shut him up."

All eyes returned to George as Electivire's fist was reeled back. Sparks erupted from the pokemon's arm and Will suddenly remembered reading somewhere that Electivire could hit with 20,000 volts. In this terrain it would probably be even more. Will tried to reassure himself that voltage wasn't all that mattered. Where the hit landed was more important. If it hit George somewhere far away from his heart, he could probably be fine. Of course they could never be that lucky. Electivire launched his fist toward George, aimed right at his chest. Will shouted for George to get out of the way but he could barely stand. Will wrenched his eyes shut, too much of a coward to watch his friend die.

"Enough!" Alex shouted. Will's eyes snapped back open when George gasped.

In front of George was the massive hulking form of a Slaking. He moved faster than Will would have ever thought possible from the world's laziest pokemon and used Counter. Slaking caught the Electivire's Thunder Punch and spun, landing a hit worth two times as much damage and sending Electivire back like a ragdoll. Then the Slaking plopped down in front of George and yawned, lazily scratching at his belly. All eyes were on the new arrival when suddenly the zippy taste and smell of electricity in the air was replaced by something sweet and fresh.

Will blinked, surprised, when he thought he saw a flower growing out of the floor. That didn't make sense. Wild flowers didn't grow out of the concrete floors of dance clubs in big cities. Just when he thought he was going completely mad, all kinds of plants began sprouting out of the floor. Lush green foliage grew up around everyone's ankles and Will suddenly realized what he was looking at. Grassy Terrain. Someone was using Grassy Terrain. His eyes snapped over to Alex and Will's jaw dropped in shock.

Alex was standing front and center with a full party of pokemon under his command. His Slaking was loafing around George but there was a Meganium using Grassy Terrain, a Bewear, and his Sylveon awaiting his command as well. Shockingly, Alex had a _ pink _ Lopbunny, which really suited him somehow, and a fucking _ Shaymin _ standing at his side too. All the grunts around him took a step back and Will didn't blame them. Every trainer knew commanding a full party was almost impossible just like every trainer knew _ legendary pokemon _ like _ Shaymin _were very, very choosy. Only the best of the best ever dared to catch and train legendaries. Even cute little gratitude pokemon like Shaymin.

"What the-?" the masked leader took a step back as well, "What the hell man?"

"Let him go," Alex demanded, staring at the leader but gesturing toward Will, "_Now._"

"F-fuck you," the leader regained his confidence, stuttering over it before drawing a premeire ball, "You think you're top shit huh?" He released a Braviary.

"You two get Will," Alex gestured toward Shaymin and Meganium, then he commanded his Bewear and Lopbunny forward, "Bewear Thrash that Electivire and Lopbunny hit the Braviary with a Sky Uppercut," then he glanced down at Sylveon, "Get to George and use Heal Bell."

Will had never seen someone have so much faith in his pokemon. Meganium and Shaymin came to battle Poliwrath without Alex even telling them what moves to use. He watched Shaymin use Sweet Scent to disorient Poliwrath, making him slow-moving and vulnerable. Then while Poliwrath was off kilter, Meganium used the highly accurate move Magical Leaf to avoid hitting Will. The moment the pokemon dropped him, Will rolled out of the way and returned Ursaring to her pokeball. Once he was out of the way, Meganium and Shaymin each used Energy Ball and both hits knocked the Poliwrath out.

Will took a moment to catch his breath now that his lungs were freed and looked over to see Alex's Bewear pummel Electivire until he fainted. Alex's Lopbunny was holding its own against the Braviary even though the flying type was clearly the strongest pokemon from the man's team yet. The masked villain growled and withdrew his two fainted pokemon. He pulled two more premier balls from his belt before gesturing madly at his lackeys still standing about the room.

"Well?! What are you waiting for?" he snapped, "Fucking crush them!"

When he released a Lycanroc, the midday form, and a Sawk, Will drew his own pokemon. He let out Squirtle, Bastiodon, and Machamp. He caught a glimpse of Sylveon healing George under the protection of Slaking's sturdy form and a weight Will didn't even know was there lifted off his shoulders. A few of the grunts around them let out their pokemon too. The entire room was turning into a free-for-all and that was beyond dangerous. 

"We need to regroup!" Will shouted to his allies, pointing toward Alex and the exit he was still standing by, "Let's move!" As he moved forward, the group of pokemon with him followed. He told Bastiodon to use Rock Throw on the enemy Braviary to support Alex's Lopbunny.

He heard a cry from George and whirled around to see the man struggling to his feet. His arm was wound around his chest and Sylveon was twirling anxiously around his ankles. George stumbled and fell to a knee, his hand gripping Slaking's shoulder to steady himself. Will was worried George might have been injured but he thought Sylveon healed it. Apparently he was worse off than even the fairy pokemon could handle. He turned to Machamp.

"Get George," he ordered but quickly added, "And be careful! He's hurt." Machamp rushed through the calamity to get to George's side.

When he scooped George up into his arms, George whined, "I don't like being picked up," but didn't try to get out, clutching his chest. 

Across the room Alex had ordered Bewear to recover Professor Donaldson. The strong armed pokemon slung the professor under one of her arms and when she did, the masked leader shouted for his pokemon to attack. Will immediately jumped to Bewear's defense. Squirtle took on Lycanroc, blasting the rock type with a Hydro Pump and holding it back. At the same time Sylveon jumped to her companion's aid and used a glowing Moonblast to knock out the fighting type Sawk with one direct hit. When Lycanroc tried to double back with a Stone Edge, Squirtle just barely dodged the move before Will ordered him to use Scald. Lycanroc fainted just as Bewear joined Alex and George, still held bridal style in Machamp's arms, near the door.

Will whistled, catching his pokemon's attention and motioning for them to fall back. Squirtle jumped onto Will's shoulder while Sylveon dove into his arms. Bastiodon lumbered after him with Lopbunny still battling the Braviary while standing on his shoulders. Meganium and Shaymin had gone in front of Will and regrouped with Alex already. Once the team was all together again, the trio faced down the room full of thugs, criminals, and mindless grunts side by side. Will gulped.

"We need a plan," he decided.

Alex shifted on his feet next to him, "I'm all ears, mate."

"Right, okay," Will inched backward and the rest of their team followed, "Machamp, get those doors open and then you and Bewear get to safety." Bewear looked to Alex who nodded in agreement.

When Machamp shoved the doors open, and held them so Bewear could duck through, The Mavericks shuffled forward offensively.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going, bro?" their leader snarled.

Alexl nudged Will in the side and motioned for him to get ready to withdraw his pokemon. Then he cocked his head so Will's attention was drawn to his ear. Finally, Alex locked eyes with his Shaymin and nodded. In an instant, a clear melody whirled through the Grassy Terrain and Alex slammed his hands over his ears. Catching on, Will and Squirtle did too. Sylveon crawled up around Will's neck and pulled her ribbons around her ears as well, following along. 

In a snap, people in the room started teetering over. Their pokemon collapsed to the floor. The leader tried to cover his ears but it was too late. Snores echoed. As their own pokemon fell asleep too, the Grassy Terrain began to shrink, fluttering away into the club as nothing but glittery little sparkles in the air. In a rush, Alex began withdrawing his pokemon back into their balls so Will did the same. He did Bastiodon last so Alex could return his unique pink Lopbunny first. Then Alex dropped to a knee, scooped up his chipper little Shaymin into his arms, and rushed toward the door urgently.

"Come on," he used his back to push the doors open for Will, "I have no idea how long it will last on so many people and pokemon."

"Right," Will nodded, securing the still awake Sylveon and Squirtle in his arms, much to Squirtle's chagrin, "Best make a run for it while we still can."

Alex nodded and before George could squirm free from Machamp's arms, they all took off running. Will had been getting his cardio in an awful lot lately. His arm and side were sore and stiff from where he was hit with a Hydro Pump but honestly his whole body ached. He was still better off than George though. The other man looked so, for lack of a better term, _ small_\--somehow incredibly vulnerable in Machamp's hold, all injured with that little smear of blood staining his bandana. Will was pretty sure the other man could kick his ass but right now, George wasn't holding his own against anyone. 

They made it back outside much faster than it took for them to reach The Maverick's disco room of nightmares. Without the Electric Terrain, the docks seemed a lot less ominous. Still smelled though. Once the door slammed shut behind the ragtag team, they all kind of stopped. In the cool night air, Will shivered. He remembered then that he was dripping wet and somehow the sudden realization made him that much colder. Squirtle and Sylveon must have felt him shivering because in his arms Squirtle snorted dismissively and Sylveon snuggled into his chest, trying to warm him up. It made him laugh for some reason.

"Well," George started, his voice was raspy until he cleared his throat and then it was just hoarse, "We saved Mr. Beast."

Will had almost forgotten about that. He looked over to see where Bewear had shifted Mr. Beast around until she was cradling him carefully in her massive arms. Will swallowed back his nerves. Then he stepped closer to look the other man over and make sure he was still, you know, alive. The professor was breathing but he wasn't conscious. His face wasn't too busted up, just a split over his eyebrow and a blossoming bruise on his jaw. Still, Will grimaced.

"What do we do with him?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Alex rolled his eyes, "We need to take him to hospital. George too."

"Oh no," George immediately argued, "We cannot be seen taking him to hospital like this, we'll be arrested on the spot for illegal battling."

"He needs a doctor, mate," Will shifted nervously, "You too, less that's a spot of jam on your mask there."

George groaned, dropping his head back against Machamp's forearm. "I _ know_," he whined and Will figured he probably deserved to whine a little since an hour ago he was sacrificing his life to save Will and Alex and all that, "But I don't fancy being arrested, do you?"

Will sighed, "Fuck."

"Fuck," Alex agreed.

"Will!"

Will jumped. Alex did too and George flinched. Someone had shouted his name, Will was sure. They all whirled around, hands going to their pokeballs. Squirtle and Sylveon jumped from Will's arms and landed at his feet ready for battle. Even with all of them searching, none of them could locate the source of the sound. Will had just opened his mouth to ask if he was going crazy when he heard the voice again, from above.

"Will!" Stephen called again and when Will jerked his face up he saw Stephen flying down toward them on the back of his Charizard, "There you are!"

"_Stephen_?!" Will was shocked, blinking as if Stephen was some figment of his imagination. Maybe he really had hit his head harder than he thought.

"You know him?" Alex asked, shoulders tense but hands moving away from the pokeballs at his waist.

"Yeah, I-" Will laughed incredulously as Stephen landed and hopped down off his pokemon, "I don't believe it."

Stephen was still taking in the scene with that discerning eye of his when Will reeled him into a hug. They probably hadn't hugged since they were ten and getting their very first pokemon together but Will didn't care. He looped his around Stephen's narrow waist and dropped his forehead into the other man's shoulder. Stephen laughed and patted Will on the back.

"There, there," he cooed, "Daddy's here."

Will snorted over a wet laugh, "Shut the fuck up, man."

The embrace only lasted for a minute before Will was shoving himself away from his old friend. Stephen's sharp gaze darted around, pausing on Mr. Beast. Then his eyebrows shot up into his damn hairline. When he looked at Will again, his eyes flitted down to Will's neck and Will wondered suddenly if his neck was bruised. He wouldn't be surprised if it was, given how hard that Poliwrath had been squeezing. Will gulped, fidgeting with his hoodie and yanking the collar up to hide the edge of his throat.

"Well damn," Stephen said finally, "And here I actually thought you were lying about saving Mr. Beast on the moonlit docks from an underground criminal empire," he looked at Mr. Beast again, "Sorry to have doubted you, lad."

"This is perfect," George snapped his fingers, pointing at Stephen, "You two take Mr. Beast--your ginger friend can say he just found him like that, and Alex and I will go to a different hospital. Win, win."

To Will's endless shock and awe, Stephen simply shrugged. "Alright," but when he saw Will's flabbergasted look, Stephen added, "I really came down here to make sure you weren't dying or something. And because I'm lovably nosy," Stephen smirked when Will snorted, "But even I can tell he really needs to see a doctor. And you all look like you've been on the wrong end of a Tauros' charge, no offense," Alex shrugged when George huffed and folded his arms but then Stephen turned a serious frown on Will, "You owe me though. This time, I'm holding you to it, Will."

Will nodded, "I swear I'll explain everything, and apologize about a thousand times for how shitty I've been to you, but we gotta get out of here."

Stephen nodded and climbed up onto Charizard's back again. While he did, Alex and Will helped George down from Machamp's hold. Much to George's protest, they hovered as he sat down on the curb. Once he was situated, Will returned Machamp to his ultra ball. Then Alex and Will moved Mr. Beast from Bewear's arms up to the riding saddle behind Stephen. Quickly, Will scrambled up too, slotting behind the other two in order to hold the unconscious man in place.

Before Will could return him to his ball, Squirtle climbed up Charizard's leg and side, settling over his neck like he owned the place and hanging onto Charizard's horns like his own personal reins. Charizard growled happily in greeting and Squirtle gave a friendly chortle in response. Will had almost forgotten those two had grown up together along with him and Stephen. Will losing his friend had meant Squirtle lost his too. He didn't have time to feel guilty about that right now though.

"You alright, Will?" Alex asked as he slung George's arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet.

"Yeah," Will said, more certain than he felt, "You?"

Alex nodded, helping Bewear pick up the weight of George even as he protested again. "Yeah. We'll be alright," he reached into his pocket and passed his phone up to Will, "I'll let you know how he's doing once we get sorted."

"Right," Will punched his number in and tried not to draw attention to the fact that his hands were shaking. When he passed the device back, Alex immediately sent him a text so Will had his number too. Very considerate. "We'll be in touch."

"You better!" George shouted from his unwelcome perch in Bewear's arms, "This isn't over. We still have to save Manectric."

Will nodded, suddenly too emotional to speak. Alex offered him a small but sincere smile. Then Charizard leapt into the air and with a whoosh of his massive wings, they took flight. Will refused to hold onto the unconscious stranger in front of him so he reached as far as he could to grip Stephen's sides. His hands were still shaking and he was hoping that tucking them in close to Stephen would warm them up. Will caught sight of Squirtle beaming excitedly atop his mighty post before clenching his eyes shut. He could take on entire criminal empires but Will couldn't stand heights. Will laughed at the absurdity of it all as he was carried away from the docks he really, really hoped he'd never have to visit again.


End file.
